


Love in an Elevator

by bayoublackjack



Series: Stars & Stripes Forever [4]
Category: Doctor Who & Related Fandoms, Doctor Who (2005), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Episode: s03e04 Daleks in Manhattan, F/M, First Kiss, Matchmaker Natasha Romanov, POV Steve Rogers, Trapped In Elevator, Year That Never Was
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-07-06
Updated: 2014-07-06
Packaged: 2018-02-07 16:47:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,145
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1906488
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bayoublackjack/pseuds/bayoublackjack
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Steve wanted a chance to get to know Martha better.  Well be careful what you wish for.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Love in an Elevator

Steve had been thinking about Martha and his promise to buy her a cup of coffee.  He meant to ask her out as soon as they returned to Washington D.C., but another mission popped up and squashed those plans.  A few weeks passed and he still hadn’t made good on this word.  That bothered him to no end, but hopefully he could correct that wrong sooner rather than later.

“This won’t take long, right?” Steve asked Natasha as they stood in front of the bank of elevators inside the Triskelion.

Natasha eyed him closely, her interest suddenly piqued.  “Do you have something better to do?”

“There’s something I need to take care of,” Steve replied vaguely as the doors opened.  He looked inside and saw Martha standing alone.

Martha put on a smile when she saw the two of them.  “Agent Romanoff.”  She nodded politely in Natasha’s direction then turned to Steve.  “Captain Rogers.”  She averted her eyes and shifted her weight from one foot to the other as if she was debating if she should stay put or exit the elevator to avoid the awkwardness.

“Dr. Jones,” Steve said as stepped inside. 

Natasha hung back and looked at Steve.  “I’ll meet you upstairs.  There’s something  _I_ need to take care of.”

Steve could have sworn he saw a glint in her eyes before the doors closed, but he sidelined those thoughts and instead he focused on the fact that he was alone in the elevator with Martha.  He pushed the button for the floor to Nick Fury’s office then settled back next to her.  “It’s been awhile.”

Martha nodded.  “Yes, it has.”

Steve had spent the last few weeks thinking about her and hoping for a chance to see her again, but this tense encounter wasn’t anything like what he pictured in his head.  He cleared his throat and turned towards her.  “About that cup of coffee—”

“It’s fine.”  Martha held up a hand.  “Things happen.”

“I know, but I’m a man of my word,” Steve countered.  “And I made a promise to you.”

Martha cracked a smile.  “Relax.  You promised me coffee not a kidney.  I think I can live with the disappointment.”

Steve arched a brow.  “I disappointed you?”

Martha responded with a noncommittal shrug.  “No one’s perfect.  Not even Captain America.”

Steve opened his mouth to reply, but he was silenced when the elevator screeched to a halt, jousting them both around.  Martha stumbled sideways and Steve caught her around the middle.  Their eyes met briefly then he stood her back up on her feet.

“Please tell me we’re not stuck in this lift.”

Steve pressed the button for the doors a few times before exhaling sharping through his nose.  “I would but it’d be a lie.”

Martha scoffed.  “Brilliant,” she said bitterly.  She fished her cellphone out of her pocket and studied the screen.  “I can’t get a decent signal either.”

“Don’t worry,” Steve said calmly.  “This elevator is in the middle of a high traffic area.  They won’t leave us in here for long.”

Thirty minutes later, Martha sunk to the ground and looked up at him with an exasperated expression.  “You were saying?”

“If it’s taking this long then whatever caused the elevator to stall might be serious.”

Martha stared at the hatch in the ceiling.  “How far do you think we’d get if we climbed out?”

Steve leaned against the wall and crossed his arms over his chest.  “Are you that eager to get away from me?”

Martha met his eyes.  “If I wanted to avoid you, I could have left the lift when you got on.  Or…I don’t know…not talk to you for three weeks.”

Steve scoffed softly.  “You said it was fine.”

“That was when this was just a short trip on the lift.”

“And now?”

“Since we’re stuck we might as well chat about something.”

“This is your idea of small talk?”

“Sorry.  I guess I’m a just bit tetchy.  I didn’t have my morning coffee yet,” she told him with a slight smirk.

“C’mon.”  Steve groaned playfully.  He moved to sit down on the ground so that they were eye level with one another.  “Are you ever going to let me live it down?”

“I’m done,” Martha promised.  She took one finger and crossed her heart.

Steve nodded.  “Just so you know…I was really looking forward to it.”

“Duty called.”  Martha shrugged.  “It’s not like you could just skive off work for a day.  And even if it you could, I doubt that  _you_ would.  You're Captain bloody America, super solider and hero.”

Steve shook his head.  “I’m just a kid from Brooklyn.”

“You punched Hitler!”  Martha smirked.

“I punched Hitler  _on stage_ …in tights.”

Martha glanced down at his legs then back up.  “You do have the legs for them.”

Steve laughed.  “Surprisingly, you’re not the first person to tell me that.”

His laughter brought a smile to Martha’s face.  “Kid from Brooklyn or not, you’re an inspiration to a lot of people,” she assured him. “I'm just a girl from London and even I know who you are,” she pointed out.

“A girl from London who single handedly saved the world,” Steve amended.

Martha quirked a brow.  “You read my file?”

Steve glanced out the window that made up the elevator’s back wall.  “It may have crossed my desk,” he said casually.

“Interesting reading?”

“I’ll be honest, the whole time traveling thing took some time to wrap my head around,” Steve said.  “But I guess I can relate in a way.  I traveled seventy years into the future.  I just took the long way home.”

“You know, I was in New York once before,” Martha informed him.  “It was Manhattan back in 1930 to be exact.”  Her face took on a wistful expression.  Steve assumed that she was reliving the memories in her head and he couldn’t help wondering how the city looked through her eyes.  “Just think,” she said.  “We were in the same place at the same time.”

“Yea, but I was just a kid then.”

Martha tilted her head to one side and studied him as if she was trying to form a picture of what he would have looked like as a child.  “I wouldn’t mind seeing you as a kid.”

A smile began at the corner of his lips.  “I wish I would have had a doctor like you back then.”  He pulled his knees up and rested his arms on them.  “I wouldn’t even have had to fake an injury.”

“No.  You wouldn’t have.” Martha stared at him thoughtfully. 

“What’s that look?” he asked.  It wasn’t quite a look of pity, but he couldn’t exactly place it.

“Just thinking,” Martha said.  Steve was prepared for her to leave it at that like Natasha did, but, to his surprise, she continued.  “You’ve seen and lived through so much at such a young age.”

“I’m in my nineties,” Steve retorted.

“Technically,” Martha said with a hint of smile.  “Your time in the ice notwithstanding, you’re still young.  You were just at the start of your life.”  She shook her head.  “I can’t imagine what it must have felt like to wake up realize the world went on without you.”

Steve inhaled deeply and held it for a moment before exhaling sharply.  “Lonely.”

“And now?”  Martha asked softly.

“Well…”  Steve took another deep breath.  “Some good.  Some bad.”  He shrugged.  “Mostly good though.”

“Is there something you miss the most?”

“The people,” Steve said without hesitation.

Martha nodded.  “That makes sense.”

“And the Dodgers,” he added with a playful scowl.  “I mean L.A. Dodgers?  It doesn’t even sound right.”

Martha laughed at his rant as she stood up to stretch her limbs.  “Not a Yankees fan then?”

“The Yankees?” Steve looked offended.  “No.  If you were from Brooklyn back then, you were a Dodgers fan.”

Martha smiled down at him.  “You sound like my brother when he talks about football.”

“Your brother?”  Steve winced and rose to his feet.  “If I’m starting to remind you of your brother then I’m definitely a lost cause.”

Martha looked him in the eyes.  “Not  _completely_ lost.”

“And all it took was getting stranded in an elevator together.”  Steve moved to stand closer to her.  “Maybe next time I should get stuck with you inside a coffee shop.”

Martha rolled her eyes.  “Oh shut up,” she said as she nudged him playfully.

Their eyes met again and they silently held each other’s gaze.  Steve instinctively leaned forward entering her personal space and her eyes widened slightly causing him to still his movement.  He glanced down and began to back away, but she grabbed him by his collar and pulled him into a kiss.  It was firm and passionate and unlike any kiss he had ever experienced before.  Not that he had much experience in that area.  Martha was more forward than most of the women he was used to and Steve wasn’t afraid to admit that he liked that about her.  He was never very good at reading the subtle signs women threw at him, but he was quite clear on the message Martha was sending and he was on the same page.

Steve’s hands went to her waist, drawing Martha’s body closer to his.  He left some space between them out of respect, but she quickly closed the gap when she wrapped her arms around his neck.  Steve’s heart began to race and his breathing was shallow, though that might have been a good thing since neither of them seemed to be coming up for air anytime soon.

His hands moved from her hips, one stopping at the small of her back and the other traveling ever so slowly up her spine to the base of her neck.  He felt her tremble in his arms before she pulled her mouth away from his.  He immediately focused on her lips, wishing they would meet his again, but he willed himself to look her in the eyes.  “That was…”

“A mistake,” she finished for him, breathlessly.

“It didn’t feel like one.”

“The worst mistakes rarely do,” Martha retorted.

Steve kept his hold on her and to his surprise she didn’t fight him.  He was thankful because he liked the way she fit into his embrace and he wasn’t keen on letting go of her just yet, but he’d do so if she wanted.  “Do you regret it?”

Martha looked at him like she was struggling with her response.  “Yes…and no.”

The ‘no’ made him feel hopeful, but the ‘yes’ kept him grounded.  He selfishly allowed his thumb to linger against her neck for a moment before slowly releasing her.  She unlaced her fingers from behind his neck and dropped her hands down to his chest.  She stared at the ground for a moment and exhaled sharply before pushing herself back with her palms.  Steve caught her along her elbows as she moved back, her arms slipped through his fingers until he got to her hands, which he grasped tightly.

“Don’t,” she said, almost pleading with him.

It pained him, but Steve respected her boundaries and let go of her completely.  “Martha…”  He had never addressed her by her first name, but after that kiss, Dr. Jones felt too formal.

Martha turned towards the window and sighed softly.  “Business before pleasure, Cap.  This isn’t the time or place.”

Steve nodded sadly.  He knew she was right, but he couldn’t help being disappointed.  Things had been going so well then suddenly, he was back to square one.  As if on cue, the elevator began to move again and they retreated to opposite sides of the elevator until the doors opened.  When they opened, Natasha was standing on the other side of the doors with her hands on her hips.

“This is my stop,” Martha said to no one in particular.  She slipped passed Natasha, who stepped inside.

“Martha,” Steve called after her, holding the door open.  She paused and glanced back to meet his eyes.  “What about that cup of coffee?”

Martha glanced away.  “Let’s just play it by ear,” she answered before heading off down the corridor.  Steve released the door and dropped his arm to his side in defeat.

Natasha watched him silently until the doors closed.  “I bought you time alone with her,” she said.  “I hope you made good use of it.”

Steve sighed and turned to face her.  “I had a feeling that was you.”

“Me and Stark.”

“Stark?”  Steve was genuinely surprised.  “He helped  _you_ ?”

“Not knowingly.  He really should change his password again.”  Natasha smirked.  “Did you make any progress?”

“Honestly?”  Steve looked at her and shrugged.  “I don’t know.  I thought that maybe…”  He exhaled sharply and shook his head.  “Peggy was right.  I don’t know a damn thing about women.”


End file.
